Main -
Activity - Economic Equality between Men and Women: a Reality or a Goal?

Economic Equality between Men and Women: a Reality or a Goal?

Elimination of discriminatory practice in employment and on
the labour market and contributing to women’s economic empowerment is one of
the objectives set by the third Millennium Development Goal to promote gender
equality and empower women. According to the Millennium Declaration (2000) Belarus
along with 192 other UN member states committed itself to achieving this goal
by 2015. We will analyze the economic situation with an expert.

During the last 10 years women have dominated (52.6%) the structure
of the gainfully employed population* of the Republic of Belarus. The reason
for this fact is not only that female population prevails in number; this is
also explained by the high level of women’s economic activity (86.7%) as
compared to men’s (74.6%). Among employed women 54.6% have attained a tertiary
or post-secondary education, while the same rate for men is 37.1%. A higher
level of education theoretically makes women more competitive on the labour
market, but women fulfil their potential in less well-paid occupational
categories and spheres of economic activity.

Table. Proportions of women and men at various stages of
attaining education

While women have a higher level of education (60.4%) they
realize it in the lowest-paying occupational categories and spheres of economic
activity.

Irina Chutkova, Head of the UN Gender Thematic Group/Deputy
UNICEF Representative in Belarus, remarks that no special measures are
implemented now in Belarus to popularize the academic and labour spheres where
men currently prevail.

“No system-based or consistent policy aiming to diversify
men’s and women’s employment is pursued in Belarus. At the same time special
projects and programmes aiming, for instance, to involve women into the sphere
of information and communication technology are extensively implemented in
developed countries.”

The expert comments, “While
making their occupational choices girls seeking professional self-actualization
take into account a job’s status value, its competitiveness on the labour
market, and undoubtedly the level of compensation, which, as you know, is
higher in the industries where predominantly men work.”

One of the main reasons why men and women are not equally
represented in various spheres of economy is that women permanently try to find
a balance between work and family. The
traditional image of a woman and a mother implying the role of a housewife and
a member of the family responsible for childcare makes it difficult to fulfil
professional duties. Whereas for a man, due to the same traditional outlook of
the society, paternity and household duties remain out of focus, and success in
the society is measured by professional achievements.

The creation of the image of positive fatherhood and
involving men into the sphere of upbringing children will drastically change
the relationships in a family, which will have a positive effect on the
achievements of both men and women in the society.

Irina Chutkova states that more emphasis has been recently
put on the topics of fatherhood and men’s responsibility for the socialization
of children; and this is a ‘win-win’ situation.

“Spiritual affinity and friendly relationships between
fathers and children favourably affect children’s nature and their entire
future life. According to Belarusian researchers modern fathers have been spending
more time upbringing their children and taking care of them. One of the reasons
for that is implementation of specialized projects on establishing dad schools,
creation of conscious parenting, equal and shared responsibility of mothers and
fathers for the upbringing of children and taking care of them.”

The expert remarks that this work has not become systematic
yet. A serious “retuning” of the public opinion is required, as well as the
cultivation of motherhood and fatherhood as the most important social functions
of an individual by the state.

“Unfortunately, the likelihood of a present-day student to
be taught at school by a male teacher is extremely low. Women prevail in the
educational system especially at the pre-school and school level. And if
earlier male teachers were still coming to schools in Belarus, today this
sphere of activity is not very appealing for them due to the low prestige of
the teaching profession and the inadequate pay level. Many researchers note a number
of negative aspects related to the feminization of education, and in this
context there is a necessity that we develop and implement measures to involve
men into this sphere of activity.”

The generally accepted idea that a woman must do housework
plays an important part in decreasing the prosperity of a woman, but is
supported by the majority of the country’s population. According to the
research performed within the last ten years most Belarusians are sure that a
man must earn money, and a woman must do housework.

Women in many cases look for work longer, need job
retraining after a maternity leave and rely more on remote and flexible forms
of work. By combining 2-3 low-paying jobs or working at home women are far
behind men in compensation of labour. Such difference undermines women’s social
status and hinders their right for an equal participation in economic life.

According to a recent survey, an average salary of a
Belarusian woman amounted to 73.7% of a man’s salary by the end of 2011, and
this figure is close to an average global rate. This being said, household
chores that women more often do are not paid at all.

We observe feminization** of such industries in the republic
as the textile and food industries, trade, education and culture. Researchers
note that as early as mid-‘90s there was an equal level of employment between
men and women in the different sectors of the Belarusian economy. Although the
level of women’s participation in the labour market is still high, they find
themselves in a worse situation when compared to men. It is more likely that
after losing their job at a state-run enterprise women would either work in a
low-paying industry or become housewives.

There are forms of employment in Belarus contributing to the
establishment of a balance between family and work. Irina Chutkova mentions
that the Belarusian labour market is moving in the same direction as the
employment markets of most developed countries, but with a bit of delay.

“First of all, the best opportunities for an optimum
combination of professional and family responsibilities are provided by the
professions where qualified people work for themselves, at their own risk, without
being hired by an employer. The word ‘freelancer’ has firmly taken root in the
modern vocabulary. Independent can be non-staff journalists, translators not
permanently employed by a certain company, as well as lawyers, architects, accountants,
designers, programmers, consultants, auditors, notaries, insurance agents, writers,
artists, etc.”

Elaboration of laws including flexible forms of work outside
the office is a promising trend for the country.

“A second developing trend is remote work or telecommuting
where an employee is situated outside a fixed workplace and the connection
between the employer and the employee is maintained through information and
telecommunication networks in general use, including Internet. Unfortunately, the
growing opportunities for such types of employment in Belarus outpace the employers’
desire not to keep employees at an office and on a strict schedule. Besides, the
labour laws are not really ready for such forms of work.”

According to the expert, traditional employment forms can
also facilitate combining professional and family roles, but only on condition
of working part-time during a day, a week, part-time employment, and if there
is a flexible adjustment of the arrangement of working time, periods of work
and rest.

“Institutions providing families with various childcare, educational
services and services to ensure all-round child’s development are of great
value for a well-balanced combination of professional and family roles. And it
is very important – apart from availability of pre-school facilities – that
such services develop due to introducing new forms of childcare and education,
better adjusted to the present-day situation and better meeting parents’ needs.
These might be playgrounds, family day care facilities, mothers’ and fathers’
schools, early socialization studios, public nurseries, certified nurses and
child minders caring for children at home.”

Apart from traditional employment the women of Belarus work
in the private sector. Women are very active in Belarusian entrepreneurship. Women
account for about 60% of individual entrepreneurs. (A.V. Orlova Women
entrepreneurs in Belarus: a research of organizational forms of functioning,
2011).

Considering the gender situation in which Belarusian women
live and work nowadays it is necessary to take a number of meaningful measures
to advance the realization of their rights in the economic domain.

Irina Chutkova remarks that the effectiveness of shaping
gender policy depends on the correct assessment of the existing situation, a
balanced estimation of the actually existing gender issues and a justified
elaboration of social mechanisms enabling achievement of the goals with due
regard to the lessons learned by the most advanced countries in the area.

The expert believes that it is possible to change the
situation in order to prevent gender inequality in employment, and to foster
women’s economic empowerment by implementing measures aiming to:

restore women’s competitiveness after periods of absence
from the labour market due to giving birth and caring for a child; this also
relates to men who took upon the responsibilities of caring for a child until
it is three years old;

encourage shifting role-specific functions to a more even
sharing of household chores between men and women, increase the status and
prestige value of childcare;

raise employers’ awareness of gender equality aiming to
change their social notions (the effect that ideas about social and
professional roles of men and women have on the decisions of appointing to
positions and promotion);

establish mechanisms of finding facts of sex discrimination
and processing such complaints;

develop measures to reduce sector-specific and professional
gender segregation, and elimination of gender asymmetry in wages;

develop flexible forms of employment;

facilitate gender research of theoretical and practical
value for the implementation of gender policy.

Ensuring gender equality is important not only as a goal, it
is also instrumental in achieving other results of great significance for the
country. For example, according to research, the advancement of women in the
social and economic spheres brings about an increase in birth rate.

In developed countries where much emphasis is put on gender
issues the tendency for reducing birth rate has been successfully reversed. For
example, the birth rate in the following countries has grown and amounts to
2.06 in the USA, 1.76 in the Netherlands, 1.83 in Finland, 1.90 in Sweden, 1.88
in Norway. (Source: Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS), 2013). This
is another good reason why the system of measures aiming to ensure and protect
women’s rights on the labour market must develop and improve.

*Labour force or gainfully occupied population is a total
number of people working (employed) or able to work and seeking work
(unemployed) at any given moment. The total occupied population comprises
workers receiving salaries and emoluments (hired employees), self-employed
workers and assistants (non-paid workers) of persons working at a family-owned
business.

Unemployed population
includes all people of working age, who during the recent short reference
period were unemployed, can be hired now and are seeking employment. In 2006
women accounted for 40% of the global workforce (according to the International
Labour Organisation, 2007).